COMING UP:Monday: At Los Angeles, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Trevor Cahill (1-3, 2.61) vs. Dodgers RHP Josh Beckett (0-4, 5.24).Tuesday: Tuesday: At LA Dodgers, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon McCarthy (0-3, 7.22) vs. Dodgers RHP Josh Beckett (0-4, 5.24).Wednesday: At LA Dodgers, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Wade Miley (2-1, 3.06) vs. Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (3-2, 1.66).Notable: Kennedy gave up four runs in seven innings against the Giants in his most recent outing, leaving with the game tied at 4. It was his second consecutive start against the Giants. He gave up one run in six innings in the previous start. Opponents are hitting .286 off him with runners in scoring position. Kennedy has a 2.79 ERA against the Padres in 11 career starts. They scored 12 runs in 26 1/3 innings (4.10 ERA) against him last season. … Volquez gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Cubs in his most recent start. Opposing hitters have a .313 average and an .884 OPS against Volquez this season. He has a 4.15 ERA in seven starts against the Diamondbacks.

By Nick Piecoroazcentral sports Sat May 4, 2013 9:28 PM

SAN DIEGO -- Padres slugger Yonder Alonso’s drive in the fifth inning on Friday easily cleared the fence in right field, a home run at Petco Park just as it would have been in most other ballparks. But in any other season, it wouldn’t have been.

The Padres brought in the fences at Petco this year, making adjustments in right field and in left-center, and in the first five weeks of the season there have been a handful of home runs that wouldn’t have left the park last year.

While the Diamondbacks weren’t happy about Alonso’s shot given that it was hit off of one of their pitchers, they weren’t grousing about the changes to the park. Their hitters, at least, were glad to have them, at least judging by the way the park played on Friday.

“It played fair,” Diamondbacks right fielder Cody Ross said. “The balls that were hit out were supposed to be home runs. I think they did the right thing in moving it in. It’s by no means a hitter’s park. It’s not a pitcher’s park anymore. It’s fair. It plays fair.”

It might take a full season’s worth of games to tell for sure if that’s the case, but Ross knows what it’s like to play a full season in a tough hitting environment after spending the 2011 season with the San Francisco Giants.

“I battled it for a full year,” Ross said. “It definitely takes a little bit of the confidence out of you. You try to start doing too much sometimes. You can easily find yourself in a big hole and not be able to get out of it just because of that.”

Ross said there were times when he’d do everything right in an at-bat, hit the ball hard and yet still make an out. Those kinds of outcomes could sometimes cause hitters to try harder, which Ross said could create bad habits.

“There’s a lot of mind games that you can go through after playing in a non-hitter’s park,” Ross said.

The Padres moved the left-center field fence in from 402 to 390. The fence that runs along the right-field line into right-center field went from 402 to 391 and was lowered to 8 feet.

Alonso’s shot certainly wouldn’t have left the park last season. It likely would have hit off the wall, which makes the Diamondbacks victims of the park’s new dimensions. But neither Friday night’s Diamondbacks starting pitcher Wade Miley nor catcher Miguel Montero made excuses.

“I think that ball deserved to be hit out,” Montero said. “He put a good swing on it. It was probably off the wall in this place last year, but realistically in any other place that ball is gone. He hit that ball good. It was just a bad pitch and bad pitches deserve to be hit.”

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said it was probably too early to tell how drastic the changes were, saying it’s hard to say whether he might manage games differently.

“Maybe if it was bigger you’d play a little more small ball, I guess,” Gibson said. “You might be a little more inclined with certain guys to let them swing away. But it’s too early to tell. We’re not familiar with it at all. I can’t really tell you the real difference in the game other than that the fences are shorter and more balls are going to go out.”

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